TicketsOct. 17, 2011
The University of Cincinnati tennis team played at the University of Memphis this weekend for the ITA Regional Tournament.
The tournament ends Tuesday, but the Bearcats finished play Sunday when their last representative, junior Jasmine Lee (Canton, Ohio/Glen Oak) made it to the field of 32 players in the Main Draw Singles. She was taken down by Xepoleas of Purdue 6-0, 6-4. She made it there by defeating Miller from BIG EAST rival University of Louisville Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore Ashleigh Witte (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) was also in the Main Draw Singles bracket with Lee Saturday morning, but lost to Hibberd from host school Memphis in the first round Saturday morning. She was then in the Back Draw Singles bracket, where she lost to Toti of University of Tennessee in the first round of that bracket. Toti proved to be a tough opponent because she is still playing today in the semifinals of the Main Draw.
In the Qualifying Singles bracket, sophomore Sierra Sullivan (Austin, Texas/Stetson) and senior Safiyya Ismail (Maineville, Ohio/Kings) each represented Cincinnati for a chance to be moved into the Main Draw bracket Saturday morning. The two both played Friday morning in their first matches. They fought hard against girls from Louisville and Memphis but ultimately fell in the first round.
In Doubles play, the Bearcats had a team in the Main Draw bracket made up of Lee and Ismail. The team lost the first round to eighth-seeded Honiball/Mohan of Miami (OH). With the loss, the duo was moved to the Back Draw doubles bracket Saturday evening, where they lost in that first round to Albuquerque and Faouzi of Eastern Kentucky University.
The Cincinnati team of Witte and Sullivan had a chance to move into the Main Draw by being placed in the Qualifying Doubles bracket. They were defeated though, by the team of Miller and Brown from BIG EAST rival Louisville in the first round Friday morning, ending their play of the tournament.
The tennis team will not have any more matches until their official season starts in January. They will travel to South Bend, Ind. to face conference foe Notre Dame January 21.